‘All of Us Strangers’ dominates British Independent Film Awards

LONDON (Reuters): Drama “All of Us Strangers” was the big winner at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) on Sunday, taking home seven awards, including best British independent film and best director.

Actors and makers of some of this year’s most talked-about movies, including Jodie Comer and Celine Song, attended the gala ceremony in London.

“All of Us Strangers”, a mystery drama about love and loss, stars Andrew Scott as Adam, a writer living in a near-empty London high-rise. Adam’s loneliness is alleviated when he meets Harry, one of his few neighbours, and visits his childhood home to find his parents living there, despite their death decades earlier, as if no time had passed.

Directed by Andrew Haigh, the movie is based on Taichi Yamada’s 1987 novel “Strangers” and also stars Paul Mescal as Harry and Claire Foy and Jamie Bell as Adam’s parents.

“It has this very audacious idea at its centre, which is: what might you say to your parents after their death that you didn’t get to say to them before they died. And it’s very beautiful and it’s got a metaphysical aspect to it, but it’s also just about love. It’s a movie about love and we’re so proud of it,” Scott told Reuters on the red carpet.

“How to Have Sex” star Mia McKenna-Bruce scooped the best lead performance prize for her role in the film, while her co-star Shaun Thomas shared the best supporting performance award with Mescal. The provocatively titled film follows three British teen girls who go on holiday with the aim of drinking, clubbing and hooking up.

“It’s a dream come true just to be in this room, let alone have this in my hands. It’s just insane, I can’t believe it,” McKenna-Bruce, 26, said.

Actors George Mackay and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett picked up the best joint lead performance award for “Femme”, an intense revenge porn thriller-tragedy by Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping.

French filmmaker Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or-winning movie “Anatomy of a Fall” was named best international independent film.